


The Way Home

by Terra_Nova



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Crimes & Criminals, Cute, F/M, Falling In Love, Father-Son Relationship, First Dates, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Technobabble, Teen Angst, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-04 21:39:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18821266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Terra_Nova/pseuds/Terra_Nova
Summary: Peter is learning to adjust to the "friendly neighborhood Spider-Man" lifestyle he decided to adopt after defeating The Vulture. He's never considered balancing his school life, home life and super hero life to be anything but a challenge, but when a new formidable foe emerges, Peter will discover how he can be the best version of both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, along with the help of some old and new friends.(On Hiatus)





	1. The Friendly Neighborhood

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little idea that I have for what I think would have really been cool to see in-between Homecoming and Infinity War.
> 
> I've decided to change Michelle Jones' character into Felicia Hardy/Black Cat because I think that her character putting on this show that she's this loner kid at school and then turning into this cat burglar at night would be really interesting.
> 
> Also I know that Shocker was in Homecoming but I'm retconning that because I want a small-time villain for Spidey to fight.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Peter's stint with The Vulture, he's decided to be a "friendly neighborhood Spider-Man", but learning to balance being Peter and being Spider-Man is never easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter's a bit rough around the edges, but then again what first chapter isn't :P
> 
> Edit: I've edited this chapter a lot because when I published it it was like two in the morning and looking back I'm not happy with some of the writing.

**2 Months Ago**

The workshop was littered with metal scraps, power tools and flecks of sawdust.

Each guard stood with backs to the walls and watched every prisoner in their line of sight with intent. There were cameras lined on every wall on every corner, ready to lock down the room if they caught an inmate doing something that would raise suspicion.

None seemed to notice Herman Schultz as he snuck a piece of metal to his cell everyday after leaving the shop.

There were metal detectors at all the exits of course. At first Herman was stumped on how he could get past those. But he was an engineer, he surely could figure out how to dupe those machines- and he did. Taking only tiny scraps of metal at a time and shoving it into his underwear while cupping his hand over the piece of scrap as he walked through the doorway. Enough padding around a tiny enough piece of metal to get out undetected.

As he put this method to practice one last time and entered his cell, he patiently waited for lights out to pull his gauntlets out from his pillowcase. This would be the eighth time he was caught and locked up. He'd wasted away in here for two years, developing the device that would give him his freedom. This night would finally be his last in this hellhole.

The metal scrap clicked into place on the forearm piece. He turned the arm pieces on and his arms began vibrating violently as a loud hum emanated from the gauntlets. He smiled into the glow of them as a guard from across the hall walked over with a flashlight.

"Hey! What's going on here?!" The guard stepped closer to the cell and saw the gauntlets. He spoke frantically into his radio, "I need backup on the west wing, second floor! An inmate is armed, I repeat, an inmate is armed!"

Schultz moved his gaze from his arms to the guard.

"It's time I got back to work," Schultz murmured.

He reeled his arms back, felt them vibrate even more than before, and shot them forward.

Everything in front of him was blasted away.

 

* * *

 

**Present**

"I failed?"

The instructor jotted down a couple more notes on his evaluation, his face tired looking. He looked to Peter.

"Sorry, but you didn't come to a full stop on that one intersection. Automatic fail."

Peter's brow furrowed. "But there was no light or stop signs and I looked before I turned-"

"No full stop means no pass. You're welcome to come back in two weeks to take the test again thank you for your cooperation get out of the car."

Peter walked out of the DMV and crossed the street, moping at the fact that he failed... again. All that studying for him to fail over a dumb mistake. The last time, it was because he was out all night patrolling that he forgot to review the specifics of when to stop when in the presence of a school bus.

He jogged down Steinway looking to duck into a nearby alley when a convertible sped down the street towards him. As it came closer, he saw a familiar face in the driver's seat.

The car stopped beside him as Flash Thompson said to his friends in the other seats, "Hey look everybody! It's Penis Parker!" He was an unfunny prick. "Hey how do ya like my new ride? My dad got it for me after _Spider-Man_ crashed my old one."

Peter tried to hide the annoyance in his voice. "Looks great, Flash. Listen I'm kinda in a hurry so-"

"I'd say I'd race ya, but it'd kinda be unfair to beat _someone who can't drive!_ " Everyone in the car began laughing at him. "All those brains and you failed the one test you need to get all the ladies! See ya around, Penis!"

They sped off, all chanting "Penis Parker".

Pete sighed. _That's not even a clever name!_ he thought.

He turned back towards the alley and sprinted in. The suit was on in about a minute, albeit with the usual trouble of adjusting his boxers so that everything was comfortable, and his bag was webbed to the wall. _High up_ on the wall, where nobody could steal it.

He shot a web to the corner of a building and swung around.

The patrol was pretty typical. A man ran up behind a woman, snatched her purse and started running. Peter webbed the thief's free hand and yanked to turn him around as Pete landed in front of him.

"Nice bag, but it doesn't go with your outfit." As he finished the sentence, Peter shot a web at the man's face, grabbed the purse, kicked him so he hit a storefront window and webbed him to it. The lady gave him a gift card for a free massage as thanks.

Then there was the kid that her lost balloon which he gave back, the cat up a tree that he got down, the man who needed help across the street and the whole pizza that he ate by himself for dinner.

Even though he thought that "staying close to the ground" like Mr. Stark said wasn't what he wanted when it came to being a hero, Peter found that this lifestyle was pretty nice. There wasn't as much of a chance of death like when he fought Vulture, and Queens was happy to have its own personal super hero.

For the most part.

He continued his rounds when a woman on the sidewalk called out at him.

"Hey Spider-Man!"

Peter stopped to look at the woman.

The woman was looking up at him. She had a mole on her right cheek and wore a striped beanie and brown jacket.

"I got a question," she said. "Why don't you let the police do their job instead of swingin' around and takin' the credit for _their_ hard work, huh?"

Peter felt nervous. He didn't know what to say and hated this sort of confrontation from civilians, which was happening more often recently.

"W-What? Look ma'am, I appreciate everything the NYPD do and I try my best to-"

"You're a menace! Jameson knows all about you! You don't care about the people that stick their necks out risking their lives every day!"

 _There's that name again,_ Peter thought. He took a few steps back before swinging away as the lady continued ranting.

The sun had finished setting and the sky was a blend of purple and black. He swung up to land on the top of a building and sat at the edge. He never actively took credit for anything the police did, but the news would report it that way. It never really occurred to him that public employees might be feeling cheated on with Spider-Man doing their work. He thought he was doing them a huge favor by taking the load off.

"K.A.R.E.N., who's this Jameson guy I keep hearing about?"

" _John Jonah Jameson, otherwise known as J. Jonah Jameson, is the new publisher of the Daily Bugle. He has targeted and attacked costumed heroes in the past with libel, and seems to be targeting you now,_ " the A.I. responded.

"What?! So some guy is just bad-mouthing me for no reason?"

" _I'm sorry, Peter,_ " she said with warmth. " _Think about it this way: the people who don't buy into what he says are the ones that really matter._ "

"Yeah, until the people that _do_ buy into his bull are the ones I'm tryna save."

Their conversation was interrupted when Ned called.

"Hello?"

"How'd it go?"

"I failed again. I probably won't be able to drive till I'm thirty!"

"Hey man, it's cool. I don't know how to drive either. We'll be in this together!"

"Not sure I wanna pay for the train every time I wanna go somewhere."

"Well, you don't have to. Just swing to wherever you wanna go. Problem solved!"

"Dude! I can't do that! Mr. Stark trusts me to use my powers responsibly. I can't let him down because I wanna take my date out or something."

"What date?" Ned said with a chuckle.

He shifted uncomfortably. "I-I mean, sure I don't have anyone right now and the last girl I was with her dad turned out to be the arms dealer I was hunting down but... I can find somebody... "

"Hey, it's not that I don't have faith in you Pete, it's just that I'm not really sure handling a relationship and Spider-Man is a good idea."

Peter's shoulders slumped and he sighed. "I don't know, man. I mean, I can barely remember when I need to be home... oh shit! Gotta go, Ned!"

May was going to kill him. She was understandably shocked when she learned of her nephew's alter ego, but conceded when Peter explained to her that he'd already been doing this for a while and was fine so far. He also explained to her that he felt that it was a duty of his to use his powers to help people. The memory of Uncle Ben's passing still poked at her, but she accepted Peter being Spider-Man.

On one condition.

He had to be home by ten every night unless he called her to tell her he would be back late. She said that she didn't want him staying out into the morning when he had school and that she would be worried sick if he just didn't come home.

It was close to eleven right now. Pete was swinging as fast as he could when May called.

"Hi May! Listen I'm so sorry! I lost track of time! I'm coming home right now!" He started swinging over an overpass, trying to concentrate on his aim and what May was saying.

"Peter this is the fourth time you've been late! And you never call to tell me! You'd better get your Spidey butt here right now or so help me-"

Peter felt the hairs on his body raise, felt his senses warning him. He was concentrating on so many things that he didn't even see the semi to his left.

The brunt of the impact went to his left elbow and his phone flew out of his hand. The side of his head hit the pavement as he fell and rolled over himself across the road a little. He had sharp pains shooting up and down his arm, and shifting it so he wasn't lying on top of it didn't help.

" _You appear to have a mild concussion and a broken arm,_ " K.A.R.E.N. concluded.

The driver of the semi frantically ran out to Spider-Man as he lie there on the road.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit," he spluttered. "Spider-Man a-are you okay?!"

The driver went to pick him up and grabbed his upper arm. The skin stretched and his forearm hanged. Peter yelped in pain.

His arm was let go and the driver began spilling a slew of apologies when a loud boom was heard and the ground began shaking.

Peter's head was throbbing from the vibrations, but he looked up anyways to see that people were running out of the bank that the overpass out-looked.

Peter shot up and ran to jump off the overpass as the driver was telling him to go to a hospital. He thwipped his webs out and swung, going slower than he'd liked due to the lack of momentum from swinging with one arm.

He ran into the bank, climbing over rubble and helping as many people out of the building as he could. He kept going to the back and found a man wearing a padded yellow suit with a helmet and gauntlets standing in front of a safe.

The man wound his arms back, charging up the weapons as they rumbled, pushed them forward and sent a blast of air out that made the round metal door crack open with ease.

"Here we are," the man said, taking a step forward before halting at the sound of a voice behind him.

"You know, if you wanna make a withdrawal, you should really talk to one of the tellers."

The man in yellow whipped his head around to see Spider-Man standing behind him.

Peter looked at the guy's suit. He thought he looked ridiculous wearing a bright red suit and swinging around New York, but this guy's got him beat. He looked like he was wearing a love seat. Peter couldn't help but snort a laugh.

"Huh," the man huffed. "I've heard a lot about you. Some of the men in my prison would talk all about how _you_ put them in there."

"Aww, you guys talk about me? That's sweet. You know I've always wanted-"

He was cut off by the man trying to shoot a blast at him. He shot a web to the ceiling and hung from it. The rumbling of everything whenever the man used those gauntlets made Peter's head pound. The gravity pulling his left arm down from hanging upside-down also made his forearm feel like fire, while his upper arm just felt numb.

The man in yellow shot at him again and Peter let go to land on the ground, dodging two more of his blasts as he ran towards him to kick him in the jaw. The man staggered for a beat.

"What's with the costume? Are you suppose to be "The Terrifying Couch Cushion" or something?"

He snarled at the quip, turning back to Spider-Man and firing multiple blasts in succession, who dodged each one of them. He ducked under another blast and took a swing at the man's face. The man jumped back, Spidey's fist inches from hitting his face when he decided to take a few swings at Spider-Man coupled with some blasts. Pete had to squeeze his eyes shut every now and then, as they felt like they might fall out of his head from all the throbbing. The shock waves the blasts created also made it more difficult to evade the man's punches. One blasting punch had a few shock waves hit Peter's injured arm, making him wail and clutch at it.

The man noticed this and took the opportunity to blast Spider-Man back with a huge shock wave, knocking him back and onto the rubble-filled ground.

Sirens were heard outside. The man made a sound of irritation as he ran around a corner and disappeared.

Peter's head was spinning. He felt like he was gonna throw up. By some miracle, he stumbled to his feet and, with bleary eyes, was able to actually take in just how much damage that man had caused.

Walls had been warped and cracked, support beams were exposed and hanging off the ceiling, and lights and security cameras had been completely busted.

This guy was no joke, even if he looked it.

There were footsteps approaching the safe, and Spider-Man was gone before police even reached the scene.

 

* * *

 

Crawling through his bedroom window had become routine by now, but he'd never done it with a broken arm before.

The trip just to get to the block his and May's apartment was on was hard enough. He clumsily swung from building to building with one arm and a piercing headache, not to mention the all-over body ache and fatigue he had.

Then there was climbing up the side of the apartment with the one working arm which he somehow pulled off. He had no idea how he would open the window, though. Luckily, when he peered in, he saw May sitting on his bed, phone in hand. He tried knocking on the window, which just ended up being him trying to tap as hard as he could with his fingers while he kept his palm attached, and May looked up and ran to open the window.

"Oh my God, Peter!" She pulled him in. "What happened?"

"I kinda got hit by a truck." He winced at how raspy and weak his voice sounded.

The look on her face was one of horror.

"I'm sorry I couldn't call. I lost my phone."

She helped him out of the suit and laid him down on the bed. He dared a glance at his arm. The forearm was three times larger than normal and beginning to purple.

May lightly grabbed his forearm with both hands. "You're gonna hate this. Brace yourself."

Pete sucked in a breath and May shifted his arm. He could see and feel it moving around and struggled not to scream or squirm. There were tears in his eyes when she finally reset the bone.

She assessed the wound. "I'll be right back."

When May came back, she had a bag of frozen peas wrapped up in a dish towel, a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin. She gently placed the wrapped peas on his arm and Pete downed the aspirin and water in short notice. They both knew that Peter was able to heal quicker than a normal human, but a broken arm might take a bit longer than the other injuries he's had to heal.

When she took the glass to place on his nightstand, he looked up at her and saw that her eyes were puffy and red, as if she'd been crying ever since their call got cut off. All because of him.

"I'm sorry, May," he said softly through choked sobs. "I'm sorry that I don't call and that I make you worry about me and-"

"Peter," she put her palm on his cheek, wiping away the dust and dirt on his face. "It's okay. _You're_ okay. That's all that matters right now."

Pete leaned into her touch. He wasn't sure if it was the medicine already at work or her voice and gentleness that were soothing him. He could always count on her to be in his corner, even when he did the dumbest, scariest shit.

She pulled her hand away. "You know that I only ask you to come back or to call because I want to know you're okay, right?"

He nods. "I promise I'll try to be better about calling."

She quirked a brow and smirked. "What about coming home on time?"

"That'll vary."

"Mm-hm," she playfully hummed. "Well, thank you for trying."

"Yeah, if something like what happened at the bank were to go down, just watch the news and you'll know where I am."

"Did you at least web that bank robber up?"

"Um, broken arm?"

"Right. So he got away then?"

"Yep. Does the news at least have any new info on the guy?"

"Not since I last checked, no."

Peter frowned and May stood.

"Get some sleep, hero. Can't have you up when you're hurt _and_ you have school tomorrow." She turned to leave.

"I failed my drivers test," he said suddenly. He wanted to talk with her some more.

May glared at him in disbelief. "Again?"

"It was over a stupid technicality! I'll get it next time, I promise!"

"You'd better. I'm tired of giving you money for the train everyday."

Peter chuckled. "I know. I'll make it up to you. You wanna gift card for a free massage?"

May smiled at him. "Get some sleep, tough guy."

She turned out the light as she left the room.

Pete shut his eyes and recounted the events of the day. Failed his driver's test, was made fun of by Flash, got heckled by someone, found out that someone was bad-mouthing him, broke his arm and got his ass kicked by a walking quilt.

_What a friendly neighborhood this was._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We love a supportive aunt.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	2. Hitting The Jackpot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has decided to take a photojournalism class with Ned, where he meets someone new. New information is revealed concerning Shocker as he robs another bank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm not sure how many chapters long this fic will be, but I plan to upload chapters every Monday.
> 
> Enjoy the read!

"Shock waves?"

Peter and Ned were walking to the train station after they stopped by the alley in Steinway to retrieve the backpack that was still webbed onto the wall ( _high up_ on the wall, and nobody stole it). He had just told Ned about everything that unfolded last night. Ned is the kind of person that would geek out over anything cool, so as soon as he found out about Peter's spider-sona, the two made it a tradition that Peter would tell him all about his Spidey escapades while Ned told him about the newest _Star Wars Resistance_ episodes he'd missed.

Peter looked at Ned. "Yeah. I mean, you should've seen this guy. He opened up a safe door without even touching it!"

"I feel like we would've heard about a guy that can make shock waves _burst_ from his body before." The word 'burst' was emphasized and paired with Ned splaying his fingers in an outward motion.

Peter lifted a brow at his friend's phrasing. "They don't just come out of his body, they come from these gauntlets he wears."

"Wherever they come out of him, we could do some real research on this guy in photojournalism!" Said Ned with an overly giddy tone.

Ned was the one to rope Peter into the elective. Even though Peter told him that he didn't care to take a photojournalism class, Ned insisted that it would be fun. He also kinda guilt tripped Peter by saying that he barely ever sees him outside of school anymore and that this class could be a way of, as he put it, "rekindling the time we've lost".

"You're way too excited about that class."

"Come on, last time we were there you had fun, right?"

"Sure. I always love learning about lighting and framing," he said blandly. "We haven't even gotten to take any pictures yet."

"Yeah, well, _eventually_ we will, and isn't it cool to think about how we'll be taking photos that could be in the school paper? Photos of football games, of school dances, of-"

"A lazy bum?!"

"Well, if we wanted to take pictures of Coach Wilson I guess we cou-"

"No, look!"

Ned looked to where Peter pointed and saw a newspaper stand with papers from the Daily Bugle with the title " _Spider Man: Nothing But A Lazy Bum_ ".

The two ran over to the stand and Peter grabbed a paper, reading the headline.

"'As New York blindly puts its faith into the web-slinging menace, the self-proclaimed hero sits atop Leo's Pizzeria and chows down while the city was in danger. Later that evening, a man in a yellow suit people are calling 'The Shocker' attacked the Ridgewood Savings Bank. Spider Man did arrive at the scene, but not after The Shocker caused serious damage, probably because the menace was still scarfing down meat-lovers'?!"

Peter was wrinkling the paper in his grip, a defeated expression on his face. "How could they say this?" He looked through the headline again. "And they forgot the hyphen in Spider-Man!"

Ned spoke in a hushed tone. "I mean, you _were_ eating pizza on your patrol."

Peter made his voice level with Ned's. "I hadn't had dinner yet! What, does the Bugle want me to starve myself?"

"You buyin' er what?"

Ned and Peter directed their attention to the seller at the stand. They put the paper back and continued their walk, reaching the station.

"This sucks!" Pete exclaimed.

"Dude, don't worry. Nobody reads that paper, anyways."

They went in and Ned stepped onto the platform first and paid for his ticket. Meanwhile, Peter went and grabbed a pole with his left hand and swung himself around it a couple times just for the hell of it before hopping off.

Ned stared in astonishment. "Man, I wish I could heal broken bones overnight."

Pete leaned in and whispered, "Hey, maybe you'll get bit by a spider and become my sidekick."

"Nah, 'The Guy In The Chair' is way cooler... and safer."

When Peter paid for his ticket, he thought about how, before he left home, May handed him the money while he handed her the gift card. She had joked about how a massage would be great for her because he was constantly introducing new stress into her life.

Peter felt he could use a massage for all the new stress that had been put into his life, too.

 

* * *

 

This day in photojournalism, the class was going to look at good and bad examples of framing and lighting. _What fun_.

These were the exact thoughts Peter had when he heard the lesson plan.

Ned was on his laptop while Peter's head was on his folded arms on the table. The bell for the last period of the day wouldn't ring for another three minutes and students were still filing into the classroom. Peter made a decision in his head to stare at the clock above the door for the whole class until school was over. Just one more hour before he'd start swinging through the city.

He scrapped that plan when he saw a redheaded girl walk into the room.

Peter shot straight up as soon as he saw her. Ned started talking about something on the laptop, but Peter didn't hear him.

She had hair that was a warm auburn that was half up-half down and bluish-green eyes and light freckles dotting her cheeks. She also wore a black sweater, white scarf, jean skirt and brown knee-high boots.

Ned kept talking and Peter still couldn't hear him as he watched the girl take her seat towards the back.

"Pete? Pete!"

"Huh?"

"I'm tryna tell you about Shocker! I found some reports that talk about a convict that escaped prison with gauntlets that release shock waves two months ago.

Peter turned the laptop to face him. The report said that the convict Herman Schultz had escaped and went into hiding for a while. Another report said that the police believe the bank robber to be Schultz and had some files about him attached.

"Woah," Peter expressed, looking at his mug shots and criminal record. "This guy was jailed seven times in the past for grand theft."

"And look," Ned said, pointing to the screen. "Police say that they found blueprints for the gauntlets underneath the mattress in his cell."

There was a photo of what the blueprints looked like below the report. They were professionally made, printed on a light-sensitive sheet. The words written on them were odd too, as if they were instructions from another person. They said things like "make sure you hinge this piece" and "don't worry, these parts aren't required".

"Someone was helping this guy escape," Peter deduced. "Someone on the outside."

The bell rang and Mrs. Dillard shut the door as Ned and Pete shut the laptop.

"Alright everyone," she began. "Today we have a new student in our class. Ms. Watson," she gestured to the redhead in the back, "will be joining us in the world of photojournalism."

Peter looked at her as she smiled. Watson. _So what's her first name_ , Peter thought.

Dillard explained the lesson plan and the class got into partners and began working. Pete and Ned had about fifteen photos from magazines and papers spread across the table and they had to organize them into two categories: good lighting and framing or bad lighting and framing.

Peter kept glancing back at Watson. She was working with another girl and placed the photos intently. He liked it when she smiled whenever she placed the right photo in the right spot because her eyes smiled too.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt Ned pinch his arm.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"To show you that you're not dreaming. That girl _is_ real and you can _really_ talk to her, you know?"

"What? Wh-W-Why would I wanna do that? I'd probably say something stupid like 'Hi, I'm Parker Peter'."

"Dude, you remember how yesterday you were telling me how you'd find someone when it came to dating? Well _this_ is that someone!

"Didn't you tell me that you didn't think I could handle a relationship and being 'you know who'?"

"Well, what do I know? Go talk to her and see what happens! Come on, you can fight a guy with wings while hanging onto a plane but you can't talk to a girl?"

"It's different. Fighting a guy on a plane doesn't mean a chance that I'll be humiliated."

Ned deadpanned. "No, it just means there's a chance of dying."

"Exactly! There's no chance of humiliation in that scenario!"

Ned put his hand on Peter's shoulder. "Come on, Pete. You can do this. Just introduce yourself."

Peter shifted his anxious gaze from Ned to Watson. She was rifling through the rest of the photos on the table.

There were so many opportunities Peter was able to take up by taking a leap of faith. He wouldn't have been able to help Mr. Stark fight Captain America if he didn't take a leap and agree to go to that airport. He wouldn't have earned Mr. Stark's trust if he hadn't taken a leap and took down Toomes. He wouldn't be _Spider-Man_ if he didn't take a leap and decide to use his powers to help others.

Peter knew that when an opportunity like this presented itself, the only thing that could go wrong was to not take it.

He nodded at Ned and said "alright" before getting up and moving towards the back.

Watson knotted her brows together, looking through the photos again.

"Hey, where's that one photo of Central Park?" she asked her partner, who responded with a shrug.

Watson went through the pictures one last time before looking under books and papers. Nothing.

Peter walked to stand right in front of the girl at her table.

"Hi-" she crouched down to the floor before he could even really say anything.

Watson saw the photo she needed on the floor beside her table and crawled over to retrieve it.

"Jackpot!" she said once she had it in hand.

When she stood, she almost knocked her head into Peter's face, who was suddenly standing right in front of her.

" _Ah!_ "

She jumped back at the little scare and almost everybody in class turned to them when she shrieked.

Everyone was quiet.

Peter was dying inside.

Eventually, everyone went back to work, leaving the pair in the back to stare at each other. Peter's eyes were wide and he was feeling extremely high-strung at the fact that he hasn't even said anything yet and he already freaked her out.

_Nice one, Parker. Make the first impression by standing right in front of a girl and scaring her._

She raised an eyebrow when Peter just stood there.

"U-Uh," he stumbled and stuck out his hand. "H-Hi, I'm Parker Peter."

He squeezed his eyes shut when he realized what he'd just said. Pete was _really_ dying inside now. Watson just smiled and chuckled at his flub.

"I-I mean I'm Peter Parker, Peter Parker that's-that's who I am... "

She reached her hand out and shook his. "Mary Jane Watson."

"Mary Jane," he spoke under his breath while retracting his hand. He gazed at her face. Now that Peter was standing in front of her, he could see that she was even more beautiful than he had previously thought. She beamed with her little dimples and long lashes that brushed her cheeks whenever she blinked.

"But, everyone calls me MJ."

"MJ." Okay, this was his chance to smooth over that awkward start. "So, uh, you're new here?"

"Yeah, my dad and I just moved here a week ago. Well, 'moved'. I've lived here for a while but transferred from my old school."

"Oh. How come?"

"Are you lookin' to hear a sob story?" She smirked and flicked her eyebrows up in a playful sort of manner.

Peter had an earnest smile on his face and felt some leeway with the conversation, not so stressed anymore. "I've got time."

"Mr. Parker and Ms. Watson," Dillard called from her desk, "this is not a social hour and neither of you is done with your work."

Peter glared daggers at Dillard. _Just when I was getting somewhere_.

He turned back to see MJ giving him a cute lopsided smile. "Maybe another time, then."

"Y-Yeah, yeah... " He watched as she strode back to sit by her partner.

Peter sulked back to his chair and sank down.

"See? That didn't go too badly," Ned offered.

Peter gave him an incredulous look. "The first thing I did was scare her with my face," he countered.

Peter's phone buzzed with a notification. He unlocked it and saw a news update that read, " _Shocker Strikes Carver Federal Savings Bank: Live Footage_ ".

Pete's eyes went wide. Thankfully, the bell rang.

 

* * *

 

Four masked men stood in the bank lobby with assault rifles pointed at the people on the ground as an alarm was going off.

"Any of you move and we shoot!" one of the men yelled.

The lobby was a large square room with two rows of support pillars going down the center. The ceiling was a large dome with a skylight, where a police helicopter could be seen. All the hostages were sitting up against desks and lining the walls, heads down.

Shocker gave his men strict orders not to harm anyone and not to let anyone in. Police and S.W.A.T. were outside the gaping hole that was made into the front of the building. An officer demanded their surrender with a megaphone.

" _Fellas, we just hit the jackpot,_ " Shocker relayed through his men's earpieces. " _Keep watch out there. I'm grabbin' up the money._ "

There was commotion outside, people cheering and yelling. The men looked out the hole and saw Spider-Man swinging around.

One of the men tapped on his earpiece. "It's the Spider! He's here!"

" _Hold him off. Our ride's on its way,_ " Shocker responded.

They started firing at him. He dodged every one of their bullets with precise routine and swung up to land behind them. The men were baffled at how he could sense the bullets before they even left the clip.

Spider-Man took a stance. "Gentlemen, I'm gonna need to see some permits for those weapons."

He crossed his arms and thwipped a web out each web-shooter, attaching each to a rifle. Pete yanked them out of the men's hands before throwing them back, hitting them with the other's gun. The two other men unloaded on him and he sprung up and webbed their guns mid-air, pulling them up and throwing them to the side. When he was back on the ground, they were all facing him.

"It's nice to meet some of Shocker's friends," he said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Spider-Man."

All four charged him. He shot a web to the ceiling and pulled himself up just enough so he could flip over them.

"I like long walks on the beach," he continued.

He webbed one of the men's face and pulled him forward to kick him in the head and knock him out.

"Playing video games,"

Another of the men threw a punch at Spider-Man, which he dodged by sliding under the man's legs. He then shot a web at each of the man's hands and crossed them to stick them together before he kicked the man's back, making him fall forward.

"Anything related to Star Wars,"

The last two charged him together. Spider-Man rapid fired webs at them as they ran towards him until both were stuck together in a web cocoon before shooting a web to a pillar and pulling himself to it, making purchase with a hand and a foot.

"And catching two-bit thieves who threaten innocent people."

He took a moment to think about what he just said.

"Man, that sounded cool," he chirped.

The hostages started running out the hole in the building while police and S.W.A.T. began coming in. Spidey swung his way over to the back and came down to the floor.

"K.A.R.E.N., scan for enemies."

" _Scanning._ "

Peter glanced around until he saw the red outline of a person some rooms to his right.

He ran through the rooms until he saw the open door of a safe with Shocker and four large duffel bags filled with money inside. His back was turned and he was shoving the last of the bills into a bag.

With quick thinking, Peter shot multiple webs at the door and pulled to try and lock him inside. Shocker heard the creaking of the heavy metal and spun around to see the door closing. He shot out shock waves from his gauntlets, pushing the door back out and sending Spidey to the ground.

He ran out of the room carrying the bags as Peter was just getting his bearings. The police and S.W.A.T. arrived and chased after him.

Pete felt someone pulling him up by the arm.

"Hey, you okay?"

An officer with dark skin and brown eyes was helping Peter to his feet. He had creases on his forehead and shadows under his eyes, probably from stress and lack of sleep. Despite that, there was a gentleness to his face.

Pete looked down at the officer's name plate and saw DAVIS engraved on it.

"Yeah. Thanks," Pete expressed.

"Come on, Spider-Guy," Davis motioned for Peter to follow as he ran ahead. "We're gonna lose 'em."

"It's Spider-Ma- oh whatever." Pete trailed along.

Shocker had gone out a back door and was faced with at least ten cop cars, a couple armored vehicles and a chopper.

A static-filled voice cut through the other noises in the area.

" _Drop the bags, remove your weapons and get on the ground. This is your final warning._ "

He narrowed his eyes and huffed out a breath.

_No. Not when I'm this close._

Shocker dropped the duffel bags behind himself and clenched his fist. The tell-tale hum of the gauntlets could then be heard ramping up.

The police and S.W.A.T. members noticed this. They aimed their guns.

" _AHHHH!!_ " Shocker yelled as he slammed his fists down onto the ground in front of him.

The waves that were released were huge, much bigger than how they were in the bank last night. They rippled outwards and collided with every cop car, every armored vehicle and every officer in the vicinity.

Vehicles were shoved over and flipped, cops and S.W.A.T. were knocked off their feet and hit the ground hard and the ground beneath Shocker's feet was severely cracked.

He jacked up the gauntlets again and shot them forward, completely clearing everything in front of him. He picked up the bags and ran through the clearing and across the street to a black van parked in an alleyway.

The driver of the van saw Shocker in the rear-view and got out of the vehicle to open the back doors.

"Where're the others?" he asked Shocker when he ran up.

Shocker started dumping the duffel bags into the back. "Leave them. We gotta get back to him."

Shocker jumped into the back and shut the doors as the driver hopped in the front seat before the van sped off. The chopper followed them.

Meanwhile, back at the bank, Spider-Man and Davis appeared and saw the horrifying aftermath of what Shocker did. Cops and S.W.A.T. were lying on the ground, most of them bleeding and unconscious. The few that hadn't sustained serious injuries were aiding the others. Peter couldn't believe what he saw. He and Davis felt the rumblings from inside, but they didn't think the damage was _this_ bad.

Davis put a hand on Pete's shoulder, who was so engrossed in the scene before him he completely forgot about the officer standing beside him.

"Go," Davis told him. "We'll take care of things here. You go after that son of a bitch."

Peter took a quick glance around. He thought he could handle Shocker now that he was in a better shape than last night, but this time was different. Last night, the worst his gauntlets did was crack a few walls and break a few lights, and today, he destroyed over ten vehicles and severely injured a team of trained personnel. Shocker was stronger than before. _Much stronger_ than before. If he could do this much damage to trained S.W.A.T., police officers and armored vehicles, what could he do to civilians on the street and normal pedestrian cars and _the city of New York?_

Peter wasn't gonna let any of that come to fruition.

He gave a quick nod to Officer Davis before shooting a web and leaving the scene.

   
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was looking at different actresses to picture a Mary Jane that would go well with Tom Holland's Peter Parker. I found that the actress Holland Roden from Teen Wolf and him would be a nice pair, so that's kind of whom I envision whenever I write this Mary Jane.
> 
> Also I forgot to mention this before but The Shocker in this story heavily takes inspiration from the one in the Spider-Man PS4 game in terms of his suit.
> 
> Big thanks to my editor for helping me out! You can follow him on Wattpad at @Midnight-Matzutaki.
> 
> Hope you guys liked it!


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